If you are a clinician you know the feeling. It’s that moment in a care process with a patient where you could do more or choose to do less. You battle internally to decide what to do and ultimately you know you can’t live with yourself if you choose to do less. That’s our moment as champions for integrated team-based care.

Over the past decades, we’ve championed the principles of team-based care and made meaningful inroads into creating systems that truly serve patients and families. Yet, as much as we’ve accomplished, the road ahead demands even more from us—a relentless commitment to innovation, leadership, and advocacy. 

This is a call to action for our community. It is not fair that we are asked to do more, but it is necessary. I still have to battle for exam rooms in the clinic where I see patients as a Behavioral Health Consultant. I see others still facing unreasonable demands and poor support from clueless (though well-meaning) administrators. And we see way too many systems that are still way behind the curve in offering patients access to team-based care (even while advertising that they do). We must rise to the occasion because the future of healthcare depends on our ability to demonstrate the worth and value of integrated care.

Measurement-Based Care: Making the Case for Integrated Care

One of our most pressing priorities is to embrace Measurement-Based Care (MBC) as a cornerstone of demonstrating value. Across healthcare, data drives decision-making. For integrated care to thrive, we must show unequivocally—through metrics and outcomes—that team-based care improves quality, reduces costs, and strengthens workforce sustainability. Measurement is not a burden; it is our opportunity to tell our story in a language that payers, policymakers, and systems understand. And as I have experimented with MBC in my own practice, I’ve come to see it as a valuable asset in my care process.

This year, CFHA is committed to equipping our community with the tools and frameworks needed to embed MBC into daily practice. Let’s work together to create benchmarks that reflect the real-world impact of our care teams, ensuring that payment models align with the outcomes we deliver.

Artificial Intelligence: Partnering for the Future

The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents both a challenge and an opportunity for integrated care. As AI continues to evolve, it will shape patient education, coaching, documentation, and decision support in ways we are only beginning to imagine. If we do not engage with AI now, we risk being shaped by it rather than shaping its development. (This very blog post was written with the help of AI.)

Can you imagine an in-ear AI enabled BHC Coach helping a new trainee think through a 20-minute consult real-time? Can you imagine being able to write better notes, faster? Can you imagine being able to refer patients to an AI-based patient education tool that provides customized information for patients to digest and work on in-between visits?

Our community’s ethos of collaboration positions us uniquely to influence how AI supports modern care teams. This year, CFHA will explore the intersection of AI and integrated care, equipping members to anticipate and leverage AI tools that enhance—not replace—the human connections at the heart of healthcare. Let’s ensure that AI becomes an ally in our mission, amplifying the effectiveness of our teams while maintaining the empathy and relational care that defines us.

Leadership Development: Championing Change

Healthcare needs leaders who can navigate complexity, inspire teams, and advocate for transformative change. The integrated care movement has always been powered by visionary leaders, and now is the time to prepare the next generation to take the helm.

This year, CFHA will expand its leadership development initiatives, fostering the skills and networks needed to champion integrated care in every corner of healthcare. We will challenge ourselves to identify and promote leaders from within our community, ensuring that our voices are heard at the highest levels of decision-making. Leadership is not a title; it is a call to action, and we need every one of you to answer it.

Opportunities to Engage and Excel in 2025

To support these priorities, CFHA is excited to announce several key opportunities for our members:

• Annual Conference in Raleigh, NC: Join us this fall for our flagship event, where we will gather to learn, share, and innovate. The call for proposals opens soon, and we encourage you to bring your best ideas and practices to the table.
• Spring Virtual Masterclass: Focused on Pediatric Integrated Care as a response to the growing mental health needs of children and adolescents, this masterclass will offer clinicians practical tools and strategies to excel in this critical area. Registration opens soon—don’t miss it.
• Consulting Psychiatry in Integrated Care: This initiative will address one of the most challenging aspects of team-based care—access to psychiatric expertise. Stay tuned for more details on how this program can support your teams.
• Sub-Community Opportunities: From peer support groups for physicians to dedicated spaces for behavioral health faculty and master’s level clinicians, these forums provide a place for connection, learning, and mutual support. We encourage you to dive in and find your people within the CFHA network.

A Call to Strive for Excellence

We have come so far, but we cannot afford to rest. The integrated care community has always been about striving for better—better care, better systems, better outcomes. This year, let’s take that spirit to the next level. Let’s embrace measurement to prove our value, harness AI to enhance our work, and cultivate leaders who will carry this movement forward.

Together, we can create the future of healthcare. Let’s make 2025 a year of bold action, meaningful progress, and renewed commitment to the ideals that brought us here.

The work ahead is challenging, but we are ready for it. Let’s get to it.

P.S. This is not an empty ask: reach out if you want to know how you could respond to our call to action.